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Has anyone...

Ever heard of or used Ohio Connections Academy? I am looking into this one for next year. I keep reading about people starting out with virtual schools but then hating it and end up homeschooling on their own. How do you get a curriculum to homeschool on your own?

I'm using FL Virtual School I would assume that the concepts are basically the same. Here they offer both Public and Private school, one you pay for the other is paid for with tax dollars. My son is in Kinder and the gear that I have for him seems excessive. 3 different books for his math lessons, a bunch of stuff for Language and writing, a full art kit, a book for science one for social studies and a bunch of readers for his language arts lessons. I spend more time going through how they want you to present the information then actually doing the lessons with my son. Also found out that the only things that the teachers collect are the assessments every couple of months to see where the kids are actually performing. Before you go through enrolling the kids online you might want to look at other options especially if like mine yours is in kindergarten.

I'm homeschooling my pre-k dd :) Bought some workbooks from the store and we do about 5 or more pages, arts and crafts and a little cooking :) This is an easy age, and pre-k where i'm at is for the 'special' kids :/

I've always pieced together ds's curriculum. I know his learning style and preferences, so I find things that look like they'll work for him. Many sites have samples of their programs, so I can see it before I buy it. I know what kinds of books he likes, how much color on the page, and how he needs things explained. I look at samples, reviews, price, and then ds checks it out, too. I don't buy an all-in-one curriculum - ds is too varied for that. I buy programs for each separate subject. If things don't work out, then we try something else.

Connections was good for my eldest the year we tried it. She was a kindy, but tested into up to the third grade level for reading comprehension and second grade in math. I didn't want to push her, so we put her in the first grade level and she enjoyed it. However, it was a lot to do every day, and I'm thinking with four of them it wouldn't be so easy. Plus, she had kindy friends who HATED it and would run and hide when it was time to do school.

We only did it for a little over 6 months because we moved away, and where we moved to no longer offered k12 free.

As for where to find curriculum, you can go onto curriculum review sites (just search homeschool reviews or curriculum reviews) and start browsing. Some sites let you browse by subject.

You can order them online from the publisher, you can order some from a company called Mardel's Christian book and gift (online). ((this store rocks, it's the best Christian store for homeschooling I've ever found! They have one in Kansas City and Springfield MO, and possibly other places.) You can find sites that sell used curriculum, try ebay, craigslist,... contact local homeschool groups and find out if there is a good place to buy/trade in used curriculum....

You figure out which subjects you can combine... like science, social studies, etc.... and which need to be grade level... like math and english...

You research the maths and englishes and decide which you want to teach and if you might use a computer or other help program.

For example, my kids use Math U See this year, and they watch the video lesson themselves and then go do the work. I give them the assessment, but don't have to teach it unless they get stuck on something, and there is the teachers manual that I can refer to if they need it.

I just feel so lost! I know for sure I want to homeschool my boys and possibly my two older step children if the decide the would rather be homeschooled. I just have no idea where to start and if I can even handle it! If you start with a virtual academy and not like it do you have to finish out the year? I am also afraid if I do homeschool on my own I will miss something or so something wrong. And it seems like it is an all day thing so how will I be able to school 4 kids in different grades.

start with looking up your homeschool law, so when you decide to hs you can do what it says.

a lot of moms start out that first year with a virtual school then go into finding their own curr. which theres plenty of,.

and its ok if you miss something, even the public schools dont hit everything!

theres really nothing you can do wrong, if the kids or you dont like what your using just change it, or go about another way of teaching it, as for all day as time goes by it will take less and less time, i teach 7 kids and we school from 9-1 so it doesnt take all day long.

how old are your kids?

Quoting Mama22EE:

I just feel so lost! I know for sure I want to homeschool my boys and possibly my two older step children if the decide the would rather be homeschooled. I just have no idea where to start and if I can even handle it! If you start with a virtual academy and not like it do you have to finish out the year? I am also afraid if I do homeschool on my own I will miss something or so something wrong. And it seems like it is an all day thing so how will I be able to school 4 kids in different grades.

Rainbow Resources is a good place to order from, but the catalogue is so huge, its intimidating for a first timer to thumb through. If you're looking for Christian curriculum (which is all I have experience with) My Fathers World is really good for big families. Everyone does the same stuff on the appropriate levels for them. Check out Cathy Duffy reviews, Homeschool Review, Mardels, Exodus Books, Easy Peasy, and probably a few thousand others LOL. There is so much to choose from, that after a while, K12 starts to look like a lot of unnecesary fluff. Combining for Science and History is a good way to school different kids, as is letting the older ones that can read help read to the younger ones. It helps both kids in the process. Lots of moms school multiple kids, you just have to find your groove. Thats actually the hard part, finding the groove that works for you. After that, its almost easy.

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